Archbishop

In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop heading a diocese of particular importance due to either its size, history, or both. The diocese is called an archdiocese. An archbishop is usually also the metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province, but there are exceptions to this rule. When a plain bishop becomes an archbishop, he is not in any sense being ordained nor otherwise receiving any sacrament; by contrast (in the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox churches) a man becoming a bishop is being ordained.

Notable archbishops, past and present, include:

• Isidore, Archbishop of Seville
• Albert, Archbishop of Mainz
• Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica
• David Hope, Archbishop of York
• William, Archbishop of Mainz
• Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Archbishop of Munich and Freising
• Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston
• John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore
• Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town

See also

• Archbishop of Canterbury
• List of Bishops and Archbishops

Etymology: From Greek archepiskopos: arche, first, and epi-skopos, over-seer or supervisor.